Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A passenger train hurtling through the night. An unwed teenage mother headed to Moscow to seek a new life. A cruel-hearted soldier looking furtively, forcibly, for sex. An infant disappearing without a trace.

So begins Martin Cruz Smith’s masterful Three Stations, a suspenseful, intricately constructed novel featuring Investigator Arkady Renko. For the last three decades, beginning with the trailblazing Gorky Park, Renko (and Smith) have captivated readers with detective tales set in Russia. Renko is the ironic, brilliantly observant cop who finds solutions to heinous crimes when other lawmen refuse to even acknowledge that crimes have occurred. He uses his biting humor and intuitive leaps to fight not only wrongdoers but the corrupt state apparatus as well.

In Three Stations, Renko’s skills are put to their most severe test. Though he has been technically suspended from the prosecutor’s office for once again turning up unpleasant truths, he strives to solve a last case: the death of an elegant young woman whose body is found in a construction trailer on the perimeter of Moscow’s main rail hub. It looks like a simple drug overdose to everyone—except to Renko, whose examination of the crime scene turns up some inexplicable clues, most notably an invitation to Russia’s premier charity ball, the billionaires’ Nijinksy Fair. Thus a sordid death becomes interwoven with the lifestyles of Moscow’s rich and famous, many of whom are clinging to their cash in the face of Putin’s crackdown on the very oligarchs who placed him in power.

Renko uncovers a web of death, money, madness and a kidnapping that threatens the woman he is coming to love and the lives of children he is desperate to protect. In Three Stations, Smith produces a complex and haunting vision of an emergent Russia’s secret underclass of street urchins, greedy thugs and a bureaucracy still paralyzed by power and fear.

Synopsis:

Martin Cruz Smith's Three Stations is now available on audio for only $14.99!

For the last three decades, beginning with the trailblazing Gorky Park, Inspector Arkady Renko has captivated listeners with detective tales set in Russia. Now, in Three Stations, Renko’s skills are put to their most severe test.

Though he has been technically suspended from the prosecutor’s office for once again turning up unpleasant truths, Renko strives to solve a last case: the death of an elegant young woman whose body is found in a construction trailer on the perimeter of Moscow’s main rail hub. It looks like a simple drug overdose to everyone&#8212;except to Renko, whose examination of the crime scene turns up some inexplicable clues, most notably an invitation to Russia’s premier charity ball. Renko uncovers a web of death, money, madness, and a kidnapping that threatens the woman he is coming to love and the lives of children he is desperate to protect. In Three Stations, Martin Cruz Smith produces a complex and haunting vision of Russia’s emergent secret underclass of street urchins, greedy thugs, and a bureaucracy still paralyzed by power and fear.

Synopsis:

Arkady Renko returns in a gripping mystery involving a kidnapped baby with a mysterious teenage mother, a murdered prostitute, police corruption, and as always, the complex, impenetrable landscape of modern-day Moscow.

Investigator Arkady Renko is back on the scene, with a whole new set of problems: his prosecutor keeps him without work, he’s struggling with the onset of middle age, and his friend Victor is arrested for public drunkenness. Zhenya, the fifteen-year-old chess prodigy whom Renko tries to parent, returns to the scene when he witnesses a shocking crime.

As always, Smith’s Three Stations is filled with intriguing, flawed characters and set in Moscow, a city so intricate and three-dimensional it’s practically a character itself.

About the Author

Martin Cruz Smith’s novels include Tatiana, Stalin’s Ghost, Gorky Park, Rose, December 6, Polar Star, and Stallion Gate. A two-time winner of the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers and a recipient of Britain’s Golden Dagger Award, he lives in California.Ron McLarty has appeared on Broadway in That Championship Season, Our Country's Good, and Moonchildren. His film credits include Two Bits, The Postman, and The Flamingo Kid. He has starred on television in Spenser for Hire and Cop Rock. Mr. McLarty is also a novelist and an award-winning playwright.

"Synopsis"
by Netread,
Martin Cruz Smith's Three Stations is now available on audio for only $14.99!

For the last three decades, beginning with the trailblazing Gorky Park, Inspector Arkady Renko has captivated listeners with detective tales set in Russia. Now, in Three Stations, Renko’s skills are put to their most severe test.

Though he has been technically suspended from the prosecutor’s office for once again turning up unpleasant truths, Renko strives to solve a last case: the death of an elegant young woman whose body is found in a construction trailer on the perimeter of Moscow’s main rail hub. It looks like a simple drug overdose to everyone&#8212;except to Renko, whose examination of the crime scene turns up some inexplicable clues, most notably an invitation to Russia’s premier charity ball. Renko uncovers a web of death, money, madness, and a kidnapping that threatens the woman he is coming to love and the lives of children he is desperate to protect. In Three Stations, Martin Cruz Smith produces a complex and haunting vision of Russia’s emergent secret underclass of street urchins, greedy thugs, and a bureaucracy still paralyzed by power and fear.

"Synopsis"
by Netread,
Arkady Renko returns in a gripping mystery involving a kidnapped baby with a mysterious teenage mother, a murdered prostitute, police corruption, and as always, the complex, impenetrable landscape of modern-day Moscow.

Investigator Arkady Renko is back on the scene, with a whole new set of problems: his prosecutor keeps him without work, he’s struggling with the onset of middle age, and his friend Victor is arrested for public drunkenness. Zhenya, the fifteen-year-old chess prodigy whom Renko tries to parent, returns to the scene when he witnesses a shocking crime.

As always, Smith’s Three Stations is filled with intriguing, flawed characters and set in Moscow, a city so intricate and three-dimensional it’s practically a character itself.

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